I <3 Tempest!

gregatron

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Yes! Another Tempest love thread.
One of the fondest "arcade" memories I have is playing Tempest
in a darkened corridor at the local Straw Hat pizza joint.
This game is an awesome sight to behold in a dark room when you're 8 years old.
Anyway, fast forward 30 years. I've been chasing one for awhile now.
I finally picked one up a couple of weeks ago in Redondo beach for a really good price.
(dead monitor).
Finally got some spare time to devote to this pig.
I was up 'til 4:30 AM last night overhauling the dead/blown 6100.
Just 'cuz I wanted to play some Tempest.
Threw in the monitor made some adjustments and bam! Perfect picture.
I played it and played it until I finally got to the red levels.
Anyway, it got me thinking. What are some of your scores? Any tips, tricks, etc?
My highest score so far is 150,XXX.
 
Last edited:
Yes! Another Tempest love thread.
One of the fondest "arcade" memories I have is playing Tempest in a darkened
corridor at the local Straw Hat pizza joint. This game is an awesome sight to behold in a dark room when you're 8 years old.
Anyway, fast forward 30 years. I've been chasing one for awhile now.
I finally picked one up a couple of weeks ago in Redondo beach for a really good price.
(dead monitor).
Finally got some spare time to devote to this pig.
I was up 'til 4:30 AM last night overhauling the dead/blown 6100.
Just 'cuz I wanted to play some Tempest.
Threw in the monitor made some adjustments and bam! Perfect picture.
I played it and played it until I finally got to the red levels.
Anyway, it got me thinking. What are some of your scores? Any tips, tricks, etc?
My highest score so far is 150,XXX.

Yes Tempest is most excellent. :) Does your spinner have the classic 'wirrrrrrrrrrr'? I love that sound
 
Hell yeah it does and I love it! It's perfect. I thought it was BBBRRRrrbBRRrbbRRR. J/K.
I've been thinking of ordering new bushings for it but I kinda like it the way it is. It's just like the one I used to play.


Yes Tempest is most excellent. :) Does your spinner have the classic 'wirrrrrrrrrrr'? I love that sound
 
Just played mine this morning. Well, I helped my 1 year old son play. My scores aren't that great yet. <30,000.
 
i haven't played much since i sold mine in '08, but here's my high score. this is the furthest i've gotten. i think spaeth made it to 400k or around there. my main tip is to not just spin the spinner real fast. learn how to how around flippers when they flip without getting grabbed, and use your superzapper sparingly, in the later levels.

cleverlyj-tempest.jpg
 
Dammit Jim,
(Ha, been wanting to say that) looks like you've got yourself some serious Tempest skillz there bro. So, what are the color progressions of the levels? Blue, red,?,??
Thanks for the tips man.

i haven't played much since i sold mine in '08, but here's my high score. this is the furthest i've gotten. i think spaeth made it to 400k or around there. my main tip is to not just spin the spinner real fast. learn how to how around flippers when they flip without getting grabbed, and use your superzapper sparingly, in the later levels.

cleverlyj-tempest.jpg
 
Nice!

I got mine working 2 days ago, it gets real jittery after warming up (5-10 mins) not exactly sure why yet but I did get a couple good games in before it started to look like an EKG test...... :p
 
I would LOVE to get a machine. I played them in college when they first came out and I was one of the first to master the Invisible levels (starting at 65). I was able to raise the starting level to 81 (Green, 910000 bonus) on machines that had extra lives at 20,000 although it sometimes took a ton of quarters to get from level 65 to level 73 to level 81.

Sadly either my reflexes have diminished or I need more practice than 1-2 times a year as I just went to CAX 2010 and the best I could do in two days (and HOURS of play) was level 68 and about 685,000 points.

FYI, the progression is Blue, Red, Yellow, Light Blue, Invisible, Green.

I met another skilled player at CAX and he made a few videos of my play and posted them up on facebook
 
I would LOVE to get a machine. I played them in college when they first came out and I was one of the first to master the Invisible levels (starting at 65). I was able to raise the starting level to 81 (Green, 910000 bonus) on machines that had extra lives at 20,000 although it sometimes took a ton of quarters to get from level 65 to level 73 to level 81.

Sadly either my reflexes have diminished or I need more practice than 1-2 times a year as I just went to CAX 2010 and the best I could do in two days (and HOURS of play) was level 68 and about 685,000 points.

FYI, the progression is Blue, Red, Yellow, Light Blue, Invisible, Green.

I met another skilled player at CAX and he made a few videos of my play and posted them up on facebook


That's awesome, and great info. I had no idea the levels went invisible. I was looking for good players at CAX but everytime I went by the machine/s it was an average dude playing or I was seeing double and couldn't focus anyway.
 
That's awesome, and great info. I had no idea the levels went invisible. I was looking for good players at CAX but everytime I went by the machine/s it was an average dude playing or I was seeing double and couldn't focus anyway.

I must have played at least 10 hours over the two days. A bunch of that was on Tempest Tubes on Saturday and on Sunday I was playing on a small upright near that time travel game. When I left Sunday I had all the high scores on that one with the lowest at about 660,000.
 
i love my tempest!

im currently on my third.... sold a upright, sold a mini, now have a real nice unrestored upright with clays multi kit.

super tough game in the later levels.... my old school roomate eric can get to the invisible stages (pretty crazy to watch in person).

agreed, the marquee on that game is beautiful lit up in all its glory! the sideart is amazing too as well as that cool shape of the cab (totally unique for arcade games).
 
I got mine working 2 days ago, it gets real jittery after warming up (5-10 mins) not exactly sure why yet but I did get a couple good games in before it started to look like an EKG test...... :p

Check for cold solder joints on the deflection board. Do a cap kit if you haven't already.
 
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